A heroic fantasy series which follows a wandering storyteller, a hero or villain out of legend (depending on who you’ve heard the stories from), on a quest to kill the terrifying demons who took everything from him, and to undo a worse evil he’s set loose—a power nearly as old as god bent on turning the world at war with itself.
THE FIRST BINDING
(Tales of Tremaine, Book 1)
by R.R. Virdi
Tor/Macmillan, August 2022
(via JABberwocky)
All legends are born of truths. And just as much lies. These are mine. Judge me for what you will. But you will hear my story first.
I buried the village of Ampur under a mountain of ice and snow. Then I killed their god. I’ve stolen old magics and been cursed for it. I started a war with those that walked before mankind and lost the princess I loved, and wanted to save. I’ve called lightning and bound fire. I am legend. And I am a monster.
My name is Ari.
And this is the story of how I let loose the first evil.
Thus begins the tale of a storyteller and a singer on the run and hoping to find obscurity in a tavern bar. But the sins of their past aren’t forgotten, and neither are their enemies.
Ari is still in the throes of hunting down the story book demons that took his old life from him and set him on the path to becoming all he is known and feared to be. But corrupt nobles are playing a dangerous game of politics and murder, old enemies are coming to find him, magical beings out of storybooks bent on revenge of their own against him, and a power nearly as old as god working to turn neighboring countries against one another in war.
Ari’s old lives are catching up swiftly and it could cost him the entire world. Unless he turns back and faces his past.
« Crafted with patience, passion, and most importantly, tremendous love. Read R.R. Virdi! » ―Jim Butcher, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Dresden Files
« THE FIRST BINDING is epic fantasy at its finest―an homage to storytelling and legend, richly told and endlessly engaging. Complex and luxuriant, this is an emotional, multifaceted gem of a book that examines the twists and turns a story takes on its journey from the truth. » ―Andrea Stewart, author of Bone Shard Daughter
R.R. Virdi is a two-time Dragon Award finalist and a Nebula Award finalist. He is the author of two urban fantasy series, The Grave Report, and The Books of Winter. One of his short stories is part of a collection of artists’ works to go to the moon aboard the Astrobotic Peregrine Lunar Lander in 2022. His love of classic cars drove him to work in the automotive industry for many years before he realized he’d do a better job of maintaining his passion if he stayed away from customers. He was born and raised in Northern Virginia and is a first generation Indian-American with all the baggage that comes with. He’s offended a long list of incalculable ancestors by choosing to drop out of college and not pursue one of three pre-destined careers: lawyer, doctor, engineer. Instead, he decided to chase his dream of being an author. His family is still coping with this decision a decade later. He expects them to come around in another fifteen to twenty years. Should the writing gig not work out, he aims to follow his backup plan and become a dancing shark for a Katy Perry music video.
The United States of America is a crumbling republic. With the value of the dollar imploding, the government floundering, and national outrage and resentment growing by the hour, a rebellion has caught fire. The Revolutionary Front, led by Joseph Graham, has taken control of Salt Lake City.
k star who leaves Enugu City to attend university and escape his overbearing sisters. He carries the weight of their lofty expectations, the shame of facing himself, and the haunting memory of a mother he never knew. It’s his first semester and pressures aside, August is making friends, doing well in his classes. He even almost has a girlfriend. There’s only one problem: he can’t stop thinking about Segun, an openly gay student who works at a local cybercafé. Segun carries his own burdens and has been wounded in too many ways. When he meets August, their connection is undeniable, but Segun is reluctant to open himself up to August. He wants to love and be loved by a man who is comfortable in his own skin, who will see and hold and love Segun, exactly as he is.
Anora Silby can see the dead and turn spirits into gold coins, two things she would prefer to keep secret as she tries to lead a normal life at her new school. After all, she didn’t change her identity for nothing. Hiding her weirdness is just one of many challenges. By the end of her first day, she’s claimed the soul of a dead girl on campus and lost the coin. Turns out, the coin gives others the ability to steal souls, and when a classmate ends up dead, there’s no mistaking the murder weapon. Navigating the loss of her Poppa, the mistrust of her mother, the attention of gorgeous and enigmatic Shy, and Roundtable, an anonymous student gossip app threatening to expose her, are hard enough. Now she must find the person who stole her coin before more lives are lost, but that means making herself a target for the Order, an organization that governs the dead on Earth―and they want Anora and her powers for themselves.
As a little girl raised amid the hardships of Michigan’s Copper Country, Fenna Vos learned to focus on her own survival. That ability sustains her even now as the Second World War rages in faraway countries. Though she performs onstage as the assistant to an unruly escape artist, behind the curtain she’s the mastermind of their act. Ultimately, controlling her surroundings and eluding traps of every kind helps her keep a lingering trauma at bay.